We also formed a strategic alliance with Chesapeake to jointly explore unconventional gas opportunities worldwide.
Onshore
The Marcellus Shale Gas play is located in the Appalachian region of north-eastern USA. In November 2008, we acquired a 32.5% interest in Chesapeake's Marcellus shale gas acreage. Production started in 2008 and drilling of new wells will continue in 2009. We also have the right to 32.5% participation in additional Chesapeake leases in the Marcellus Shale play.
Offshore, Gulf of Mexico
Discoveries under appraisal, Gulf of Mexico
The Jack oilfield, in which we have a 25% interest, is located at Walker Ridge 758/759. Jack is operated by Chevron and was discovered in 2004. In 2008, we drilled another appraisal well.
St. Malo, located at Walker Ridge 678, is also an oil field operated by Chevron. We have a 6.25% interest in St. Malo. In 2008, we drilled another appraisal well. St. Malo and Jack are in approximately 2,100 metres of water and separated by approximately 40 kilometres. The current plan is a joint development of the two fields and Chevron has formed a joint integrated project team for this purpose. In 2009, we plan to make a concept selection for the development of the two fields and to start front-end engineering and design.
We have a 27.5% interest in Big Foot, which is a Chevron-operated discovery located in WR29. During 2008, appraisal drilling took place and will continue into 2009. We expect to make a concept selection in 2009.
The Caesar unit, in which we have a 23.55% interest, is operated by Anadarko and covers blocks GC683 and some surrounding blocks, including the Tonga discovery. A joint development is planned for Caesar and Tonga and the selected concept is a four-well subsea tieback to the Anadarko-operated Constitution platform. An appraisal well was drilled in 2008.
Fields under development
We have a 25% interest in the Chevron-operated Tahiti field, located at Green Canyon 640. The Tahiti development consists of a Spar production platform connected to two subsea drill centres with production capacity of 125,000 bbl per day. Production on Tahiti is expected to start in mid-2009.
We have a 25% interest in Thunder Hawk, and Murphy is the operator. It is located at Mississippi Canyon 734. The field is being developed with a floating semi-submersible platform tied in to a third party processing facility in Mississippi Canyon 736. The processing capacity is expected to be 45,000 bbl of oil per day.
Fields in production
Our three Eastern Gulf deepwater natural gas fields are tied back to the Anadarko-operated Independence Hub. The three fields are the StatoilHydro-operated Q field, and the partner-operated San Jacinto and Spiderman. The fields produce via subsea tiebacks to the Independence Hub platform, a floating production facility on Mississippi Canyon Block 920. The Independence Hub is owned by third parties and has a processing capacity of one billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. We own 12.7% of the capacity of the hub. In spring 2008, the Independence Hub experienced an unexpected shut-down for two months due to a leak in the export pipeline. The leak was successfully repaired during summer 2008. Production was also shut down during hurricanes Gustav and Ike, but no significant damage was done to the facility or the pipelines.
Lorien, located at Green Canyon 199, produces through a two-well subsea tie-back to Shell's Bullwinkle platform. Following Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, Lorien was shutdown due to damage to Bullwinkle. Production resumed in January 2009.
The Murphy-operated Front Runner field is located in Green Canyon 338/339. Production in 2008 was relatively stable. However, due to complex geology with relatively weak reservoir communication, the production from Front Runner has been significantly lower than expected on production start in 2004. The gas-export line was damaged by hurricane Ike. Gas export resumed in January 2009.
We also had production in 2008 from two small deepwater fields called Zia and Seventeen Hands. They are located at Mississippi Canyon 496 and 299, respectively.
